Chapter 669: Chapter 15: Advanced Intelligence

Despite Gu Mo’s repeated explanations, Shenqi still didn’t easily believe his words.

The silver-haired girl continued to observe carefully for a period of time, confirming that there was indeed nothing wrong with his situation, she finally felt at ease. However, she temporarily put aside her creation project from that side, seemingly not planning to leave temporarily, or perhaps she intended to bring Gu Mo along to feel assured.

Gu Mo felt helpless about this as well. He also realized that it seemed Miss Shenqi still held a strange idea, seemingly convinced that he was of the same kind as her. Although the trust level was thus increasing rapidly, it also brought along some other small problems.

—Hmm, small problems.

—To what extent is this a good thing or a bad thing?

With such subtle thoughts, he felt a bit unsure, but still decisively talked to the silver-haired girl again, seriously clarifying his own situation, stating that he was just an ordinary human by origin, without anything special in that regard.

However, in response to his renewed clarification, the silver-haired girl merely pouted, squinting her eyes and looking at him with an inexplicably strange gaze...

It seemed she didn’t listen to his explanation at all, or rather, she was even more inclined to think that this person hadn’t figured out what was going on.

Well, let’s leave this topic aside for now.

During this period, Gu Mo also began to feel highly motivated. Although he was living quite a fulfilling life before, most of the time, whenever he had free time, he basically did not truly idle. He would delve into ancient texts, compile techniques, or attempt to analyze information from other worlds—

Mystical philosophy, astrology, numerology...

Runes, Tarot, black and white magic...

Gnosticism, dualism, totem studies, theosophy...

Even though he had long established his foundation in mysticism, he did not choose to close off his perspectives, still insisting on studying thoughts from other angles with an extraordinary viewpoint, combining them with his chosen systemic pathway to think, organize himself, and select the essence while discarding the dross.

And precisely because of this, there were so many things to do, as long as he wanted to, he would never really be idle, and his daily tasks seemed endless.

However, the prior feeling was like following the routine of logging into a game daily, where grinding had become a habit, like clearing physical strength and doing daily tasks, with the mindset that idling was still better than complete idleness. But now, he seemed like a new player who just entered the pit, with clear goals and burning passion, truly experiencing the joy of grinding.

Because he could see positive feedback all the time, seeing that his efforts were paying off.

Although the clone couldn’t access the system panel, the related data were all aggregated on the main body’s side. Whatever the main body saw, the clone saw as well, given there was only one mind from beginning to end.

So he could see career experience accumulating bit by bit, the progress bar filling up little by little; seeing the proficiency of skills steadily and slowly growing, with many abilities quickly breaking through from "LV0 (Mastered)" directly to "LV1 (Proficient)," and after some time, from "LV1 (Proficient)" to "LV2 (Mastered)."

Even though experience growth became slower as he ascended to higher levels, requiring more total experience, and the speed noticeably slowed down, it was still much better than before. With such powerful positive feedback, genuinely perceiving his constant growth, he naturally chose to grind happily.

It can only be said that the technique "Human Intelligence Integration" provided exceptionally astonishing assistance.

Though his real attributes didn’t grow a bit because of this, this externally connected computational device, operating seemingly through the brain quantum waves of all humanity at this level, had astonishing effects in other aspects, providing him a powerful auxiliary buff.

He could clearly feel his thinking infinitely expanding, with constant sparks of inspiration and wisdom in his mind.

The most direct manifestation was his sharper intelligence, significantly improved efficiency in thinking, and highly efficient handling of these matters. It seemed as though he, supposed to be just one seventy-billionth of the molecule, was instead driving the massive denominator, undoubtedly achieving true sagacity.

No one had ever been able to integrate humanity’s wisdom so directly and efficiently—

All people’s knowledge, all their experiences formed a huge fortune, not to mention the ability to call upon their moral cultivation and other information, which are even more precious, intelligent resources. After all, many things depend on inspiration, and sometimes a new perspective on a problem could reveal a whole new world.

And when one can assist their own decision-making judgment from the viewpoint of all humanity’s personalities, having flashes of insight becomes an extremely frequent occurrence.

After all, by integrating all information and computational power, examining the same problem from seventy-billion personality perspectives always unexpectedly reveals unthought-of approaches. Even if the problem can’t be resolved immediately, there’s always some progress... unless horribly unlucky, the process of elimination remains a choice.

—But this is also a matter of course.

—And the ability characteristics that a top-tier "Caster" should originally exhibit...

Just as a well-prepared magician in the Holy Grail War could stop gods and slay gods, and Gai Tia was also not simply preparing to rewrite Genesis based on his own power alone... For a technician, whether the preparation is perfect or whether they have the power of a world-class technique at their side makes a world of difference in what can be achieved.

It could even be destroying humanity’s rationality, rewinding time by 4.6 billion years, and completely altering planetary history at the very moment Earth was born...

Such incredible feats beyond magic, secret traces, curses, and rituals could potentially be achieved.

Gu Mo, however, did not exhibit the insanity to take things to the extent of Gai Tia. He was merely utilizing the collective subconscious network of all humanity, intending to integrate this idle computational system, nothing but a trivial matter—merely setting up a learning device for himself.

Moreover, because it’s within the dimension of reality, the resistance he encounters is relatively much, much smaller.

There should still be some form of inhibition, but it’s not obvious, and Araiyer hasn’t awakened, so there’s no need to gradually plot like Gai Tia, inserting grains of sand into human history bit by bit, taking an incredibly long time to drive all the nails into the predetermined places unknown to all.

Without encountering much resistance, and without setting excessively high, insane standards to match the difficulty of burning humanity’s rationale.

His progression is naturally quite smooth, ultimately achieving such a result with ease.

......

...

On this day.

At dawn.

"Hm?"

As Kanako, busy handling matters of faith, just stepped out, she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, gazing at that surge of divine power rising from the depths of the distant mountains, which soared up like a burst of spiritual light, and then unfurled like fireworks, dispersing strands of mystical energy evenly.

Subtle ripples crossed the space, the oscillating atmosphere like a transparent giant bowl turned upside down, enveloping the entire inner space within a massive field.

Although invisible to ordinary people, she could detect it clearly.

Especially after the ripples passed, the plains gradually began to be engulfed by a thick fog.

The dense fog permeated between heaven and earth like a white curtain, quickly covering the entire plain. At the extremity of the horizon, it suddenly rose into a vast fog; within a radius of a hundred miles, or even further beyond, everywhere was engulfed by the dense fog...

"Again, such an unending cycle."

Kanako’s lips twitched, yet she could only shake her head helplessly. Such occurrences have become frequent these days, with peculiar weather phenomena appearing constantly. However, that guy seems to have his reasons, diligently researching some kind of magic, so as an ally, she can only provide convenience and support.

At least from the perspective of faith, this is a good thing?

After all, the people aren’t worried at all; instead, they feel increasingly excited and spirited, explaining those anomalies automatically as miracles, without needing much explanation from them...

Additionally, that guy knows his limits, avoiding the use of overly destructive, negatively impactful magic, so there’s no need to hinder all this. Except for the continuously unpleasant weather, and it’s already been half a month without glimpsing the sun, which is somewhat frustrating.

On the mountain.

"Oh... managed to gain a bit of proficiency directly, today’s fortune indeed is great."

Gu Mo stopped casting magic, watching as the forest was shrouded by the dense fog summoned by his Fogging Skill, habitually checked, and appeared slightly surprised. Getting a bit of proficiency right at the start of practice today felt like a lucky hit, pulling a rare find on the first draw.

This indeed signifies great fortune, the divination results do not deceive me.

During these days, mastering the abilities of the Seventy-two Earth Evil Techniques has naturally become the top priority. However, this isn’t easily accomplished, it’s only due to having so many clones practicing constantly that the proficiency can maintain relatively stable growth.

First was communicating spirits, then exorcism, advancing to exorcism and liberation from calamity.

Or covering the hidden, star count, or fasting and nightmare prayer.

Using the number of Earth Fiends as a name for the Skill Badge, integrating dozens of similar spell abilities, most were learned gradually by Gu Mo through self-practice of Immortal Techniques, while a small part was obtained from defeating monsters, ranging from Silver Level to Gold Level in abundance.

Though the integrated number doesn’t exactly reach the full seventy-two, upon careful reflection, he thinks perhaps his own inherent qualities or additional abilities compensate for this part, thus fulfilling the necessary "elements," meeting the prerequisites for the Skill Badge fusion upgrade.

Just like "Eclipse," the technique to conceal celestial secrets, he often uses the Power of Lies to do so, to disguise his true self;

Also like "Nightmare Prayer," an illusion magic, his derivative use of spiritual power can easily achieve it, being a master in this field.

But for the Skill Badge with such harsh prerequisites, its quality after fusion has shown a faint crimson glow, indicating it’s beyond the ordinary rank limit, upgraded from Gold Level to Legendary Level. As one of only two Legendary Skill Badges he currently possesses, Gu Mo’s relative emphasis is to be expected.

However, its upgrade difficulty is likewise very high; half a month has passed, and with the overall efficiency combined...

The progress of refinement is barely close to one-fifth.